Image courtesy of Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame

By Connor Gunn

Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame to hold two induction ceremonies in 2022

Feb 27, 2022 | 5:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The inductees to the latest Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame class has been announced.

Over the past two years, COVID-19 has resulted in the cancellation of the last few induction ceremonies.

Having not held an induction ceremony since 2019, the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame will hold two induction ceremonies this year.

The first will honour the class which was elected to the Hall in 2020 and will be held on May 6 in the ENMAX Centre’s Canadian Western Bank Lounge. The second induction will be held in the fall and will honour the class of 2022, which will be selected later this year. The Hall did not select a 2021 induction class.

With optimism for 2022’s ceremony, the hall of fame hopes to have a full banquet and major event.

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2021’s Kinsmen Sports Persons of the Year is also being announced. The announcement of the 2021 Kinsmen Sports Persons of the Year was meant to be timed with a Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame celebration event in 2021, however, all attempts were delayed by the pandemic.

The 2021 male recipient is former Lethbridge Hurricanes and Team Canada hockey star Dylan Cozens.

Its female award winner will be shared by a pair of post-secondary stars – University of Lethbridge rugby standout Hailey Driscoll and Lethbridge College soccer all-star Christine Moser.

“A first-round NHL draft pick, Cozens played three full seasons with the Hurricanes and completed his Western Hockey League (WHL) career as one of the most dominant players in franchise history. In his final season with the Hurricanes in 2019-20, he piled up 38 goals and 85 points in just 51 games prior to the season coming to a premature end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of the season stoppage, Cozens sat seventh in the WHL scoring race and had the third-best points-per-game in the league. He also represented Canada at the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championships, where he was a co-captain for Team Canada, was named to the tournament all-star team and helped his team to a silver medal.”

“In 2020, Driscoll was named the Pronghorns Female Athlete of the Year after leading the club at both ends of the pitch. She led the Pronghorns with a combined 15 tries between 15’s and 7’s competition and was often tasked with shutting down opposing teams fastest players on defense because of her elite fitness and relentless work ethic. The Pronghorns described Driscoll as “one of the most prolific try scorers in Pronghorn history.” She earned an armful of accolades in her final season as a Pronghorn, including being named a Canada West All-Star and U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian, as well as an Academic All-Canadian,” the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame release reads.

Since 1995, the award has been given and the hall of fame will honour Cozens, Driscoll, and Moser alongside the 2020 Kinsmen Sports Persons of the Year, Nico Pasquotti and Evelyn Beaton, at the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame’s induction banquet on May 6.

Ticket information for the May 6 banquet will be announced in the coming weeks.

Nominations for the induction class of 2022 will also be formally launched in the coming weeks, but nominations can be submitted anytime through the Hall’s revamped website: lethbridgesportshalloffame.ca.